''Arenila'' is an extinct genus of

bothremydid Bothremydidae is an extinct family of side-necked turtles (Pleurodira) known from the Cretaceous and Cenozoic. They are closely related to Podocnemididae, and are amongst the most widely distributed pleurodire groups, with their fossils having be ...

pleurodiran The Pleurodira are one of the two living suborders of turtles, the other being the Cryptodira. The division between these two suborders represents a very deep evolutionary divide between two very different types of turtles. The physical differen ...

turtle that was discovered in the Western Desert of Egypt. The genus consists solely of type species ''A. krebsi''.F. Lapparent de Broin and C. Werner. 1998. New Late Cretaceous turtles from the Western Desert, Egypt. Annales de Paléontologie 84(2):131-214

Discovery

''Arenila'' was discovered in the Ammonite Hill Member of the

Dakhla Formation The Dakhla Formation is a Maastrichtian- Danian geologic formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affi ...

, Egypt, which dates back to the Maastrichtian.E. S. Gaffney, H. Tong, and P. A. Meylan. 2006. Evolution of the side-necked turtles: The families Bothremydidae, Euraxemydidae, and Araripemydidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 300:1-318

Description

The holotype of ''Arenila'' is a partial skull. Most of the prefrontal is preserved on the skull's left side, but lacks the anterior margin, while the right side is completely missing. The sutures are clearly visible, with the bone edges being slightly displaced. The prefrontal is broken by a parasagittal crack running from the frontal suture to the eroded edge of the prefrontal.

Etymology

The generic name of ''Arenila'' is derived from the Latin ''arena'' "sand".

References

Bothremydidae Cretaceous Africa Fossils of Egypt Fossil taxa described in 1998 Late Cretaceous turtles Maastrichtian life Monotypic turtle genera Paleocene life Prehistoric turtle genera Western Desert (Egypt) {{paleo-turtle-stub